The Supaboy - New SNES handheld from Hyperkin

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Without going into too much technical detail, its because the lockout is in the software and the hardware as a sort of lock and key. Since only the hardware patients expire after twenty years, the SNES CIC lockout is still under patient by Nintendo. The same is true of the N64, so it'll be interesting to see how N64 clones end addressing this issue in the coming years - because you just know there WILL be clones.

[MarioMania]

IGN sucks donkey balls

Did they fix the D-pad for shooters??

[nusilver]

IGN sucks donkey balls

I am going to have to agree with you. I love their video coverage, and enjoy some of their podcasts in a buttered popcorn kind of way, but their writing is almost universally horrible, particularly when they try to editorialize. I don't think it's necessarily (most of) the writers' faults, though...IGN is a huge commercial operation that serves a million masters. I'm surprised 1UP hasn't become horrible since the acquisition.

[nusilver]

As the title says, my Pokefami DX arrived! A few points I know many of you are wondering about:

-first impressions are everything and this thing feels much, much better in the hands than the Supaboy. It's smaller, thinner, and lighter. the buttons, though not matching the exact spacing of a real SNES controller, are perfectly spaced, and though the d-pad looks wonky, I was able to pull of signature moves in SFII Turbo without much effort. It feels more like....well, between the two, I prefer this.
-The screen appears softer than Hyperkin's unit, but the colors are nicer, the image is brighter at max brightness, and the overall effect is a smoother picture than the Supaboy. Me likey.
-The audio is much better than the Supaboy. There is still some feedback present when turning up to higher volumes, but it's much, much less noticeable. Also, the Pokefami DX's sound at the lowest volume is about as loud as the Supaboy's at max volume... meaning, when your devices are run at equal volume, with the Supaboy maxed out, the Pokefami DX sounds richer, fuller, and much more like what you'd expect from the SNES sound processor. I'm very, very happy with it. ***Results are even better with headphones - having said that, when I first plugged my Apple headphones in, there was a horrible buzzing - I thought my head was going to explode. I tried a different pair of headphones, and the problem went away. I'm going to chalk this up to the fact that my Apple headphones are going out, but it's something to keep in mind - your phone/iPod headphones might not be compatible with this device***
-Shoulder buttons are much nicer than the Supaboy's - less clicky, easier to operate.
-The unit is compatible with the Super Everdrive.
-The unit is compatible with the copy of Super Mario RPG I have on hand - I'm anticipating my spare copy, as well as my copy of Kirby Superstar, will not run, but I will test this when I get home.


and a couple other things:

-The device seems to power off if you move the power adapter a little or touch the power button in the slightest. I may have been imagining this, but I'm pretty sure this happened twice. I'll update later once I've tested it more (aka, when I'm not at work).
-I am going to charge it and leave it running without the adapter tonight to see how long the battery lasts...but if it's anywhere near the Retro Duo Portable's advertised "8 hours", it'll be even more likely that the devices are one and the same.
-my unit has a bright red dead pixel near the center of the screen, but as it's an import, I guess I'm stuck with it. I can live with it, as it only shows up on black backgrounds (Super Metroid no!!!!)
-The paint is cheap, and was flaking/fading in several places on the back. I guess this is to be expected.

I'll try to upload some pictures tonight, and expect a video to be uploaded around the time I get my Supaboy back (or quicker, if you guys would prefer a standalone review first.)

[Frog]

As the title says, my Pokefami DX arrived! A few points I know many of you are wondering about:

-first impressions are everything and this thing feels much, much better in the hands than the Supaboy. It's smaller, thinner, and lighter. the buttons, though not matching the exact spacing of a real SNES controller, are perfectly spaced, and though the d-pad looks wonky, I was able to pull of signature moves in SFII Turbo without much effort. It feels more like....well, between the two, I prefer this.
-The screen appears softer than Hyperkin's unit, but the colors are nicer, the image is brighter at max brightness, and the overall effect is a smoother picture than the Supaboy. Me likey.
-The audio is much better than the Supaboy. There is still some feedback present when turning up to higher volumes, but it's much, much less noticeable. Also, the Pokefami DX's sound at the lowest volume is about as loud as the Supaboy's at max volume... meaning, when your devices are run at equal volume, with the Supaboy maxed out, the Pokefami DX sounds richer, fuller, and much more like what you'd expect from the SNES sound processor. I'm very, very happy with it. ***Results are even better with headphones - having said that, when I first plugged my Apple headphones in, there was a horrible buzzing - I thought my head was going to explode. I tried a different pair of headphones, and the problem went away. I'm going to chalk this up to the fact that my Apple headphones are going out, but it's something to keep in mind - your phone/iPod headphones might not be compatible with this device***
-Shoulder buttons are much nicer than the Supaboy's - less clicky, easier to operate.
-The unit is compatible with the Super Everdrive.
-The unit is compatible with the copy of Super Mario RPG I have on hand - I'm anticipating my spare copy, as well as my copy of Kirby Superstar, will not run, but I will test this when I get home.


and a couple other things:

-The device seems to power off if you move the power adapter a little or touch the power button in the slightest. I may have been imagining this, but I'm pretty sure this happened twice. I'll update later once I've tested it more (aka, when I'm not at work).
-I am going to charge it and leave it running without the adapter tonight to see how long the battery lasts...but if it's anywhere near the Retro Duo Portable's advertised "8 hours", it'll be even more likely that the devices are one and the same.
-my unit has a bright red dead pixel near the center of the screen, but as it's an import, I guess I'm stuck with it. I can live with it, as it only shows up on black backgrounds (Super Metroid no!!!!)
-The paint is cheap, and was flaking/fading in several places on the back. I guess this is to be expected.

I'll try to upload some pictures tonight, and expect a video to be uploaded around the time I get my Supaboy back (or quicker, if you guys would prefer a standalone review first.)

If possible would you also include if there is indeed a Earthbound piracy check active in the video?Thanks.

[nusilver]

If possible would you also include if there is indeed a Earthbound piracy check active in the video?Thanks.

As a matter of fact, I have a video on my phone of me engaging in the final battle of Earthbound on the Pokefami DX - no freezing, no SRAM erasing. All good. I'll try to upload this quickly today so people who don't believe a clone can possibly get around this issue can ...erm...believe it. I'll put up a better video over the weekend, once I've had time to shoot and edit an actual review.

Also - a few more observations:

-I tightened the screws on the device and the power switch works properly now - no more shutting it off simply by touching the switch.
-Apple headphones work fine...mine are just busted.
-I left the Pokefami DX running the title screen of Super Mario World (with the sound off, since we were sleeping) when I went to bed last night around 1am. When I woke up at 6:30, it was still running. I'd been testing it for about an hour before that...so you're looking at a battery life that is *at least 6.5 hours!*
-Almost every game has visual distortion when using the included speakers....like the RF interference kind of distortion I mentioned seeing in Yoshi's Island on the Supaboy. However, plug headphones in or plug the unit into a TV, and the problem goes away completely. Obviously this is an issue with space, as the louder you turn up the sound, the more distortion occurs.
-Again, headphones or no, the sound is fantastic out of this device.
-I put in my copy of Kirby Super Star last night - the one that never booted on the Supaboy - and it ran. I turned it off, then went on to test other carts. Then I tried to test Kirby again, and couldn't get it to boot again. I tried re-inserting it around 30 times...no dice. I hear this is a common occurrence amongst users of clones. The cart still works fine on my SNES.

I'll upload that Earthbound video shortly.

[nusilver]

As a matter of fact, I have a video on my phone of me engaging in the final battle of Earthbound on the Pokefami DX - no freezing, no SRAM erasing. All good. I'll try to upload this quickly today so people who don't believe a clone can possibly get around this issue can ...erm...believe it. I'll put up a better video over the weekend, once I've had time to shoot and edit an actual review.

Also - a few more observations:

-I tightened the screws on the device and the power switch works properly now - no more shutting it off simply by touching the switch.
-Apple headphones work fine...mine are just busted.
-I left the Pokefami DX running the title screen of Super Mario World (with the sound off, since we were sleeping) when I went to bed last night around 1am. When I woke up at 6:30, it was still running. I'd been testing it for about an hour before that...so you're looking at a battery life that is *at least 6.5 hours!*
-Almost every game has visual distortion when using the included speakers....like the RF interference kind of distortion I mentioned seeing in Yoshi's Island on the Supaboy. However, plug headphones in or plug the unit into a TV, and the problem goes away completely. Obviously this is an issue with space, as the louder you turn up the sound, the more distortion occurs.
-Again, headphones or no, the sound is fantastic out of this device.
-I put in my copy of Kirby Super Star last night - the one that never booted on the Supaboy - and it ran. I turned it off, then went on to test other carts. Then I tried to test Kirby again, and couldn't get it to boot again. I tried re-inserting it around 30 times...no dice. I hear this is a common occurrence amongst users of clones. The cart still works fine on my SNES.

I'll upload that Earthbound video shortly.

Actually, I just realized from looking at other videos online that you have to finish the first part of the battle with Giygas before the freezing/crashing/SRAM destroying happens. I'll have to test again tonight as I don't have Earthbound with me.

I DO, however, have a short video of me walking around before the battle, and you can see there don't appear to be any more enemies than usual. I can upload that now if anyone wants to see.

*also* - I set the Pokefami DX on the SMW screen again (this time via Super Everdrive rather than real cartridge) and let it go for a bit, to see how long it would last. It died after about 5 minutes. No weird hazy, flickery screen, but no warning, either. The battery light doesn't change color either - it just shuts off abruptly. All told, the battery lasted probably around 7 hours on a single charge, at max brightness. 5 of those hours were without sound - so I'd say you're going to get a good 6-7 hours off a single charge on this one. (Also, the battery is huge, and the battery cover is the same size/shape as what's on the RDP).

[Leo_A]

Without going into too much technical detail, its because the lockout is in the software and the hardware as a sort of lock and key. Since only the hardware patients expire after twenty years, the SNES CIC lockout is still under patient by Nintendo. The same is true of the N64, so it'll be interesting to see how N64 clones end addressing this issue in the coming years - because you just know there WILL be clones.

I believe it's 15 years for patents, not 20.

If we're talking about code here, it's covered by copyrights, not patents. And copyrights are all but indefinite these days (For all intents and purposes). So you're saying the lockout chip has some code attached to it to function, which is why it's left off (It doesn't matter what's programmed into the cartridge that interacts with it, you can replicate the lockout chip and distribute it as long as it's just hardware and the copyrighted code that functions with it resides on the game cartridge)?

The fact that systems like the PSOne and N64 had embedded code necessary for the system to function is going to prevent legal clones ever appearing, I suspect. You can do something like freely create a N64 emulator these days, but you can't legally distribute the system bios necessary for it to function. That's going to remain protected by copyright laws for many years to come.

Unless they're able to legally reverse engineer it and program something that does the same things without infringing on any copyrighted code, we're never going to see legitimate clones appear for later systems (Especially more recent consoles that have full fledged operating systems).

[nusilver]

Pokefami DX is out for delivery today! Supaboy is nowhere to be found...Hyperkin has had it for three weeks, and I've stopped expecting emails from them to let me know when the situation updates. I'm hoping to get some videos of the Pokefami DX up tonight, but unfortunately since I don't have my Supaboy with me, I can't post photo comparisons, which I think might show the difference in screen quality a bit more. Either way, I'm excited to finally get ahold of this thing.

Should I post links to my Pokefami DX coverage here, or make a new thread? I feel like there should be one megathread comparing the three portable SNES clones....I guess that would be more appropriate once the RDP comes out.